6. The Demolition Depot: "The warehouse is darkish, though lights turn on as you move through different areas. Bringing a flashlight along isn't a bad idea. There's a clowder of cats in residence that the store cares for. The floors creak."

10. Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: "If Halliburton and friends are allowed to frack the million acres of Marcellus in the NYC watershed without proper regulation, it will just be a matter of time, and not a lot of it, before our drinking water becomes toxic."

11. Rogues Gallery: "We're intrigued by these faces. They seem very present to us, though the photographs were taken in the early years of the 1900s. The people are well-groomed and well-dressed, some are attractive. And yet they all turn out to be murderers."

12. On Pins and Needles: "When we saw her recently, it was Mrs. Roosevelt who had something to say, and so we listened. She began by reminding us of her longstanding ties to the Women's Trade Union League and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, both of which did so much to improve labor conditions in this city and elsewhere."

13. Is NYC Doing Enough?: "Is NYC doing all it could for the environment? The short answer is no, though that would apply to any place in America, including green stars like San Francisco and Portland."

14. Nannyhattan: "Nanny McBloomberg is only the latest in the periodic, countervailing winds that sweep through our boroughs—sudden nor'easters of self-improvement and brisk gusts of orderliness intent on saving us from ourselves—City Hall as knuckle-rapper."

15. Bergino Baseball Clubhouse: "Here's something you might not know. There's a Gotham Base Ball Club that plays the game old school—1860s old school."

16. 300 Tubas and a Dream: "'What kind of ensemble do you have?' I said, 'I don't have one but I expect around 300 tubas.'"

18. Jean's Silversmiths: "The last time you used a sardine fork, a fruit knife, or an olive spoon was probably never."

19. 9 Great Sounds: "People, places, and things that are (or were) part of the city's soundscape."

20. Madison Square: "New York's two great boulevards, Broadway and Fifth Avenue, cross only at one point, and that is at Madison Square. This crossroads, a big "X" on the map, is apt since it is possible to sit in the park and see the intersection of the city's past and future." (and Part 2).

21. A Thousand Cuts: "Death by a thousand cuts. That's how we may remember New York City in 2014."